More Thoughts on Life
The theme around here lately is "Simplify". If I had to pick a moment everything started snowballing in this direction it was April 2011. My Nana had just died, I started reading "The Hunger Games", and then Good Friday and Easter came. All of it caused me to reflect a lot (and have a lot of nightmares about an apocalyptic dark ages descending upon us).
I began to find myself imagining my day without certain luxuries. What if I went to wash my hands and nothing came out of the faucet? Would I even know where to go to find water? I found myself going on long walks around my house to 'scope' out the land to see what I could forage and shuddered at the thought of killing one of our resident bunnies or prairie dogs.
Anyone who knows me really well knows that I tend to go to extremes in most cases. I am always preparing for the worst because I'm a planner. Planning makes me feel like I'm in control and I like control. Control feels safe.
If I drive over a bridge, I'm planning my escape route in case I go over and have to get out of a quickly sinking car. If I find a small bump on my head, it automatically becomes a tumor and I'm planning my self pep-talks to get myself through chemo. Do you see the ridiculousness that is my life?
Anyway, setting all of the doom and gloom aside, I've really just felt a need to become grounded again. It's frighteningly effortless to become swept up in all the technology, glitz, and glam that is available to us today. It's all so easy...survival is easy.
Last summer I participated in a weight-loss competition at work (in which I placed 3rd!...And have since gained it all back- wah wah) and the most beneficial thing I learned through that process of public accountability was that because of how easy it is to stay alive, we've now added another chore to our endless To Do list. Exercise used to be a non-issue because you were hunting, churning butter, gardening, walking to the next town, and running from bears. Exercise was built in. When I look back at my life, it becomes clear that I thrive when things are built in to my everyday life. My favorite jobs were being a camp counselor and an RA. Why? Because I never had to "go to work", it was just part of my everyday life.
Brian recently finished reading a book called "Better Off" about a man who decided to live with a group of Mennonites in Pennsylvania for 18 months to experience another culture and to simplify his life. This book caused Brian to reflect a lot and all of a sudden we are on the same page. We've tossed around some ideas for what we can do to simplify our lives, things like "No Electricity Wednesdays", but I know it's always going to be an intentional process for me because the minute I have a long day and am tired, that TV and that bag of chips are going to look a lot more enjoyable than going to the gym or cleaning the house.
I'm all about focusing on the little accomplishments. It's not about just renouncing all modern appliances and technology. It's about intentionally taking a moment to turn off the TV, grab an actual book (with pages!), and savor a moment in the day. To be present and to remember where we come from...and to think, "Man, this book is heavy. Maybe I'll get some definition in my forearms."
I began to find myself imagining my day without certain luxuries. What if I went to wash my hands and nothing came out of the faucet? Would I even know where to go to find water? I found myself going on long walks around my house to 'scope' out the land to see what I could forage and shuddered at the thought of killing one of our resident bunnies or prairie dogs.
Anyone who knows me really well knows that I tend to go to extremes in most cases. I am always preparing for the worst because I'm a planner. Planning makes me feel like I'm in control and I like control. Control feels safe.
If I drive over a bridge, I'm planning my escape route in case I go over and have to get out of a quickly sinking car. If I find a small bump on my head, it automatically becomes a tumor and I'm planning my self pep-talks to get myself through chemo. Do you see the ridiculousness that is my life?
Anyway, setting all of the doom and gloom aside, I've really just felt a need to become grounded again. It's frighteningly effortless to become swept up in all the technology, glitz, and glam that is available to us today. It's all so easy...survival is easy.
Last summer I participated in a weight-loss competition at work (in which I placed 3rd!...And have since gained it all back- wah wah) and the most beneficial thing I learned through that process of public accountability was that because of how easy it is to stay alive, we've now added another chore to our endless To Do list. Exercise used to be a non-issue because you were hunting, churning butter, gardening, walking to the next town, and running from bears. Exercise was built in. When I look back at my life, it becomes clear that I thrive when things are built in to my everyday life. My favorite jobs were being a camp counselor and an RA. Why? Because I never had to "go to work", it was just part of my everyday life.
Brian recently finished reading a book called "Better Off" about a man who decided to live with a group of Mennonites in Pennsylvania for 18 months to experience another culture and to simplify his life. This book caused Brian to reflect a lot and all of a sudden we are on the same page. We've tossed around some ideas for what we can do to simplify our lives, things like "No Electricity Wednesdays", but I know it's always going to be an intentional process for me because the minute I have a long day and am tired, that TV and that bag of chips are going to look a lot more enjoyable than going to the gym or cleaning the house.
I'm all about focusing on the little accomplishments. It's not about just renouncing all modern appliances and technology. It's about intentionally taking a moment to turn off the TV, grab an actual book (with pages!), and savor a moment in the day. To be present and to remember where we come from...and to think, "Man, this book is heavy. Maybe I'll get some definition in my forearms."
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